It appeared to be great news for Avalanche fans early Thursday morning, Russia time, when unsigned Colorado center Ryan O’Reilly and his Kontinental Hockey League team, Metallurg, announced a mutual split.

O’Reilly, an NHL restricted free agent, was coming home.

The Avs’ leading scorer last season is indeed returning to North America, but likely to his native Ontario.

O’Reilly’s agent, Mark Guy, told The Denver Post that O’Reilly is returning only to seek medical treatment for his foot, which he recently injured in a KHL game, and Metallurg said in a news release that O’Reilly might return to Europe to finish the season.

O’Reilly was under contract with Metallurg for approximately $4 million U.S., prorated, with an opt-out clause when/if the NHL lockout ended. The KHL’s Jan. 31 roster freeze probably had something to do with the mutual split, given O’Reilly’s foot injury and his continuing negotiations with the Avalanche. Metallurg has reason to doubt O’Reilly would be worth keeping past the roster freeze.

But it doesn’t mean O’Reilly and the Avs are any closer to coming to an agreement.

Watch your step. Defenseman Greg Zanon, who joined the Avs as a free agent last summer, has quickly developed a reputation as a player to watch. Or watch out for.

The big-bearded Zanon loses his mind when people step on the Avs’ logo etched in the middle of the team’s locker-room floor at the Pepsi Center.

After Tuesday’s home-opening, 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings, Zanon raised his voice a handful of times when reporters walked through the center of the room. Reporters who have regularly followed the Avs and other NHL teams understand that stepping on carpet logos is ill- advised. But Zanon would like it forbidden.

“Don’t they understand? It’s like stepping on a flag,” Zanon said of the rule that wasn’t strictly enforced at the Pepsi Center before his arrival. “In Minnesota we used to ban people from talking to us if they stepped on it.”

Zanon, 32, played for the Wild for 2½ seasons, until he was traded to the Boston Bruins late last season.

He was born in Joe Sakic’s hometown — Burnaby, British Columbia — and played four years of college hockey at Nebraska Omaha. His Canadian and American hockey roots, blue-collar demeanor and caveman beard have made him one of the Avs’ most interesting players.

Particularly to patriotic fans.

Footnotes. Forward Chuck Kobasew and defenseman Matt Hunwick made their season debuts Thursday. Kobasew replaced Steve Downie, who suffered a season-ending knee injury Tuesday, and Hunwick got his first chance to play among the top six D-corps, replacing second-year pro Tyson Barrie. … The healthy scratches were Barrie, defenseman Shane O’Brien and forward Brad Malone, who was called up from the minors to replace Downie on the 23-man roster.